I wasn't sure whether to post this in the Plumbing or Pump & Well Forum but here goes...
Bought home through Sheriff's sale. It was a foreclosure that was vacant for some time. Mortgage company supposedly 'winterized' it late last fall.
Over the weekend, we made our first attempt to restart the well pump by turning on power and filling the 40 gallon tank. Almost immediately, an angle stop in the main floor laundry came off and water spewed everywhere. We were able to turn off the water to that location of the house. Shortly thereafter, the angle stop on a toilet on the second floor began leaking and then popped off as well. Of course, we turned off the power and drained the tank to control the flooding. I thought it was odd that both of them were angle stops.
We had the well pump inspected as part of our house inspection and the plumber indicated that we did not need to replace the well pump but he did replace the gauge. At the time these issues happened, I believe the pressure was a little less than 60 but I recall that it was 45-55 when he inspected it.
Did we do something incorrectly when we started it up - as in, should we have turned on all of the faucets and toilets to release pressure before turning it on or something like that? I'm afraid to turn anything back on again for fear that we'll flood everything and run the well dry.
I'd appreciate anyone's reference/link to a resource that instructs us on the proper steps to take to restart a well pump.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Bought home through Sheriff's sale. It was a foreclosure that was vacant for some time. Mortgage company supposedly 'winterized' it late last fall.
Over the weekend, we made our first attempt to restart the well pump by turning on power and filling the 40 gallon tank. Almost immediately, an angle stop in the main floor laundry came off and water spewed everywhere. We were able to turn off the water to that location of the house. Shortly thereafter, the angle stop on a toilet on the second floor began leaking and then popped off as well. Of course, we turned off the power and drained the tank to control the flooding. I thought it was odd that both of them were angle stops.
We had the well pump inspected as part of our house inspection and the plumber indicated that we did not need to replace the well pump but he did replace the gauge. At the time these issues happened, I believe the pressure was a little less than 60 but I recall that it was 45-55 when he inspected it.
Did we do something incorrectly when we started it up - as in, should we have turned on all of the faucets and toilets to release pressure before turning it on or something like that? I'm afraid to turn anything back on again for fear that we'll flood everything and run the well dry.
I'd appreciate anyone's reference/link to a resource that instructs us on the proper steps to take to restart a well pump.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.